Tagged Questions
6
votes
4answers
123 views
Zero polynomial [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Polynomial of degree $-\infty$?
Today in Abstract Algebra my instructor briefly mentioned that sometimes the zero polynomial is defined to have degree $-\infty$. What ...
7
votes
2answers
321 views
Why does this text insist on changing the variable name here?
In What is mathematics? by Courant, Robbins, and Stewart, "5. An important inequality", the authors change $n$ in this example:
$$(1+p)^n\geq1+np$$
to $r$ in this example:
$$(1+p)^r\geq1+rp$$
In ...
6
votes
3answers
525 views
What does a “convention” mean in mathematics?
We all know that $0!=1$, the degree of the zero polynomial equals $-\infty$, the interval$[a,a)=(a,a]=(a,a)=\emptyset$ ... and so on, are conventions in mathematics. So is a convention something that ...
5
votes
2answers
144 views
Good Hygiene in using Quantifiers
When using quantifiers it is probably important to pick up certain habits that Veterans agree upon as early as possible.
Since it was pointed out to me by a highly esteemed member that it's ...
